A proposal to build hundreds of affordable rental units near downtown Sarasota stirred promising discussion this week. Questions about the plan still await clearer answers, but perhaps what’s needed most of all, at this early stage, is a positive mindset by local government. Officials should look for ways to help mold this project into an…
DetailsWINTER HAVEN | In a span of three decades, Lillian Juhler witnessed the rise and fall of Winter Haven’s downtown, all from the doorway of her family’s clothing store along Central Avenue. It began in 1930, when Juhler’s Ladies Apparel joined a host of clothing shops, dime stores and drugstores downtown. “My parents had been…
DetailsToday literally is a red-letter day for a new business in downtown DeLand. The Jimmy John’s chain of sandwich restaurants is planning to open a franchised shop on the corner of Woodland Boulevard and Wisconsin Avenue by the end of the month, but not before it has an exterior sign. And that signage is a…
DetailsA veteran Tampa developer is planning a gated townhome community a block and a half from bustling Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg. Called Regent Lane, the 20 homes at 141 Fourth Ave. N each will have three bedrooms, three and a half baths, a private elevator, roof deck and two-car garage. Prices for the…
DetailsBOYNTON BEACH — Mayor Jerry Taylor has turned to the Community Redevelopment Agency to help cover the estimated $275,000 needed to demolish the old Boynton Beach High School. At the CRA’s budget meeting Thursday night, the mayor asked CRA members to find $50,000 to add to the Town Square project’s budget — a boost that…
DetailsA swath of northwest Gainesville qualifies for the creation of a community redevelopment area under state rules for blight, but city commissioners voted Thursday night against creating such an area, saying they believe better options are available to improve the neighborhoods. The commission’s vote was 7-0 against creating such an area. The vote came after…
DetailsCrystal River officials will have downtown development on their minds during this evening’s government meetings. During a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board meeting — chaired by City Council members — board members will get an update on the city’s Aug. 6 submission to Tallahassee of its Main Street Program application. Karen Pieters, volunteer with Crystal River’s…
DetailsThe 28th Annual Dancin’ in the Streets event will be back in the streets of downtown Stuart on Aug. 22 after last year’s move to Memorial Park on East Ocean Boulevard. Last year, the event was two days and held at the park, which is about a mile from the streets of downtown, but people…
DetailsTo say Lantana’s staff isn’t impressed with redevelopment plans for the former A.G. Holley State Hospital site might be an understatement. The town’s director of development services, David Thatcher, compared the proposal for Water Tower Commons at 1100 W. Lantana Road to a “’50s Kmart shopping center design” with some residential development behind it. And,…
DetailsNEW PORT RICHEY — City leaders have given the initial green light to spend nearly half a million dollars next fiscal year on its matching business grant program, the goal of which is to spur redevelopment in three key corridors in New Port Richey. During a meeting Tuesday, the New Port Richey City Council, acting…
DetailsMore than three decades after a Gainesville property was put on a federal list of toxic sites, city officials are finally getting serious about improving the neighborhood around it. The Koppers property, which housed a wood-treatment operation, was put on the federal Superfund cleanup list in 1983. It wasn’t until last year that the cleanup…
DetailsAs the city of Gainesville considers establishing a new community redevelopment area in the Stephen Foster neighborhood in north Gainesville, a debate is growing over whether another CRA has improved so much that it should be ended. It’s hard to determine one common denominator that can be measured to see if a redevelopment area has…
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